It May Be Stylish, But Can A Bieber Haircut Be Hazardous?

ROYAL OAK (WWJ) - It's a popular haircut with tweens ... but can it be dangerous?

A story's been making the rounds that a haircut first made popular by teen pop star Justin Bieber can cause a lazy eye. The theory is that covering one eye for long periods of time can damage a child's vision.

WWJ Newsradio 950's Sandra McNeill asked Beaumont ophthalmologist John Hart.

"I think that they're probably making it more of an issue than it really is, but I can see how it could happen," Hart said.

Hart said a similar problem occurred in a former patient who loved wearing a pirate suit.

"He thought it was just the coolest thing, and he was about 5 years old," Hart said. "He liked the patch, the eye patch, and he started wearing it all the time. And he actually caused himself vision loss because he was covering his eye all the time."

The child's vision never came back.

"This is a pretty well-recognized entity. But, again, to get that from having hair in your eyes you'd have to have a lot of hair and it'd have to be pretty much covering your eye all the time," Hart said.

Hart said this is usually only an issue for those under the age of 8.